Gillespie retains Midlands athletics title

The day started brilliantly, with the Wragby thrower recording a personal best in the hammer of 25.86m.

This was followed by a solid but unspectacular throw in the shot putt of 8.53m.

Next up came the discus and a very pleasing throw of 28.27m propelled Jim into first place.

The fourth event was the javelin, and while not his favourite discipline, there was a good throw of 21.84m which kept him narrowly in the lead.

However, Jim’s banker is the heavyweight hammer, and he ended the competition on a high by almost breaking the national record with a throw of 10.12m.

This saw Jim take the title with a personal best score of 2,029 points, an improvement of more than 140 on his previous best.

“I’m thrilled to have retained the title as only one other person has done so in the history of the event,” Jim said.